I started out as a broadcast journalist, but fate took its course when I literally fell in love at first sight with my husband of 33 years. I then taught school, of various subjects and age groups and now write about food, health, humor and life.

Friday, June 27, 2008

A Brand New Baby at Our House

There seems to be a brand new furry baby at our house. His name is Toby; he weighs in at a whopping 1.12 pounds. He’s all gray and he’s half the size of a woman’s size 8-1/2 walking shoe. I know this first hand because everyone is using my shoe as the reference point. He’s a full-bred Maine Coon kitten.

My husband and I don’t really know why he’s here (meaning our home). Really. Last words out of our mouths to our son and his girlfriend (that we remember saying) were: “Where is this kitten supposed to live-we don’t need another pet. Wait until you get a place of your own.”

After all, we are already the proud parents of a 12 year old Labrador/Golden Retriever/ Border Collie mix and a 4 year old true gray tabby. And we’re middle-aged. Meaning, we don’t want to have to potty train anyone ever again. Our two came to us house broken. Future pets must do and be the same.

Our 24 year old human “child” call me up at work-“Don’t freak out mom, I swear Sam and I are taking him to her dad’s tomorrow, it’s only for this one night”.

That was 9 days ago. They bought him a special cat condo and a huge bucket of litter and said it was for both Toby and our Pepper.

Don’t get me wrong-I am a pet lover and he is very cute. He talks up a storm and he’s totally litter boxed trained. Good thing. The elder reigning pets have not only taken to the little guy-both of them aren’t too fond of sharing him. It seems our cat thinks Toby is his son. Sunshine wants to mother him. Good thing his breed seems to like being wet-the dog keeps giving him a bath.

How she hasn’t gacked up a hairball I just don’t know.

Sunshine is 70 pounds of love and is as gentle as could be with him.

When I used my writer’s deftness to try and find out when Toby would be introduced to at least one of his other “grandparents” I was told-“Their new puppy wasn’t the sharing kind-not like Sunshine Mom”.

What does this mean? I think it means that Toby is now a permanent part of our home-at least until our son and his girlfriend (I think of her as our daughter already-she’s a real keeper!) pay off their student loans, find good jobs, save up money, get married and find a place to call their own. I’m thinking a time frame of oh, what two to five years?

Kids (of all kinds, sexes and breeds) you’ve just got to love them-sometimes it’s their insistence to have what they want that you really learn what it (or who) is you yourself really need.

Did I mention Maine Coons do not stay at the one pound stage long? Nope, turns out they can be anything from 12 – 35 pounds. Egads, what have we all gotten ourselves into????

I've suggested a cat to the wife a couple times but she's not interested. Never heard of a Maine coon cat. Upon checking, I see it's known for its high intelligence and playfulness. That's a good thing, right?

About Me

I've always wanted to be a writer, so I'm doing that now! I started out doing broadcast journalism, fell in love at first sight and got married. I put aside my journalism career to raise our family and run a pre-school and day care business. After our kids were officially out of school-I decided to start free-lancing again. Much easier but less financially pleasing with the internet.

Hoping to be able to make a permanent go of writing, since I love the written word and the reaction it still gets.